On Becoming a Minimalist

I have to admit I got a little ruffled when I read about George Muller's first few days with his new wife. They didn't have much. In fact hardly anything. But his wife had managed to save and keep some lovely items that would help to make their house more of a home. She had set everything up and was excited to show her new husband all the lovely decorations.

He was not excited.

George was concerned that he had made a mistake in marrying her. Had she not understood they would be missionaries? That all of these heavy, bulky items would only add more baggage and weigh them down as they faced their inevitable moves. He wanted them to be able to move around with ease... but mostly he was concerned that his new wife was not on the same page of the ministry.

He asked her to get rid of all of it.

I was so sad for her. She had been so excited and she didn't really have that much. It just seemed like he was an unloving husband.

But then I began to understand his point of view as well. Too many accumulations can weigh a person down, make it hard to move, trap you in idols of comfort and pleasure.

I don't want this to be an idol in my life... so I finally listened to Cliff and really started to take a look at our stuff.

We're not going off to the mission field, even though I would LOVE that, but we are seriously considering a big move in the fall. So I started to see my possessions with new eyes and decided to thin out quite a bit.

Fortunately the kids were on board with this! I was pretty merciless, getting rid of toys that were good, educational toys, but that weren't played with very consistently. I kept only 2 sets of sheets per bed, and added blankets and decorations to the pile. I downsized the kids closets and organized the bins out in the garage by size so I could see what we were working with.

The pile grew and grew along with Cliff's minimalistic anxiety over the clutter.

We decided to sell or give away all of the clothes that our kids had grown out of trusting that if we do adopt again, God will provide the things that we need. Here is Kaiah boxing up all of the clothes in the age appropriate bins.

We organized a garage sale with several friends who also added their stuff... Here it is at the beginning.

Cliff sold his motorcycle that has been sitting in the garage for years!

Visiting and working alongside long-time friends is one of the best parts of a garage sale... because it is a TON of work. Here are most of us. We're missing Ash in the shot. And Jenn was able to come help and visit for a while too.

Kaiah and Laura (and Aly) played American Girl dolls for hours in the shade.

When the older kids got bored selling cookies and lemonade to our patrons (and the mail lady), they spent the day climbing trees and played some final games on the air hockey table.

We snuggled friend's kiddos who came to shop and play :)

 

We snuggled on the things we were trying to sell...

 And we marveled that today of all days the street sweeper made his appearance! He couldn't get to much of our street with all of the cars around. We had a pretty steady stream of people the full 3 days!

The kids serenaded us with LOUD noise music 

until it became most necessary that they find a new singing venue... 

 At every sale I've ever participated in in this area Motorcycle Man and Turban Man have made an appearance... MM just glanced and left without even getting off of his bike. TM came at the very last second... and because he's so legendary, I snapped a photo :)

Here are some before and after shots:

 

 As you can see the sale was a complete success! My friend/neighbor Leah did really well too! (Thanks for helping with all the signs and for taking all the leftovers to the Northwest Children's Outreach!)

I was thinking back to the days when I could work one 12 hour shift and make about $400 whenever I wanted (At this sale we made $760 including the motorcycle money). Taking the time to sort, advertise, haul the stuff to and fro, and spending all day outside was a lot more time than an extra shift would have taken, but the memories and fun and the time spent with friends, the kids, and meeting new people is so worth the hassle. Also, Cliff's blood pressure lowered several points and we have a fairly clean and empty garage again.

All these combined really is priceless!

And if we do end up moving, we will have an easier time boxing everything up. No doubt there will be another sale when and if that happens for the things that we won't ship. Learning to travel light is a good thing and a lesson that I'm sure I'll always struggle with at some point. But I'm thankful for a husband who doesn't feel the need to accumulate a bunch of stuff for comfort or is always wanting the latest gadget. Deep down, I guess I truly want to be a minimalist too... at least when it comes to my earthly possessions.